Three weeks later Nancy is swimming towards a big, beautiful and fantastic coral reef.
Here we see the word towards. Towards something means in the direction of something. Its easy, right? Nancy is swimming in the direction of a big, beautiful and fantastic coral reef. Nancy is swimming towards a big, beautiful and fantastic coral reef. I think you get the idea.
She has never been there before, which means its her first time there. As Nancy swims up to the big, beautiful and fantastic coral reef, she sees a lot of fishes of different kinds.
As Nancy swims means when Nancy swims. It is easy, right?
Let me focus on the expression of different kinds. She sees a lot of fishes of different kinds. Of different kinds means of different sorts. Nancy sees a lot of fishes of different sorts. She sees a lot of fishes of different kinds. In other words, the fishes are not the same. They are different. They are big and small. They are long and short. They are fat and thin. They are blue, yellow, red and black. Nancy sees many fishes of different kinds. She sees a lot of fishes of different kinds.
They are nice, cheerful and friendly to Nancy. Nancy is thrilled. Here we see the expression to be thrilled. To be thrilled means to be happy and excited. Nancy is happy and excited. Nancy is thrilled. She feels happy and excited. Nancy is thrilled.
Suddenly a huge, ugly and hungry shark appears.
Let me take a minute and explain to you the word ugly. Ugly means not attractive, not nice. Suddenly a huge big, ugly not good looking, not nice, not attractive and, of course, hungry shark appears.
The shark starts eating all the fishes. Nancy is trying to escape from the shark, but the shark follows her.
Our next word for today is to escape.To escape means to get away from a very unpleasant situation. Nancy is trying to get away from a very unpleasant situation. Nancy is trying to escape from the shark, but the shark follows her.
And of course, the next word is to follow.To follow means to go or come after someone in the same direction. Its very easy, right? So the shark goes after Nancy. The shark comes after Nancy. The shark swims after Nancy. The shark follows Nancy.
Nancy is trying to hide in the seaweeds, but the shark finds her and attacks her.
You may know our next word which is to hide. But let me tell you about this word again. To hide. To hide means to go somewhere where no one can find you or see you. Nancy is trying to go somewhere where the shark cannot find her or cannot see her. Nancy is trying to go somewhere where the shark cannot find her. Nancy is trying to swim somewhere where the shark cannot see here. Nancy is trying to hide in the seaweeds, but the shark finds her and attacks her.
But because Nancy is a secret aikido master. Whats it mean? It means that no one knows that Nancy is an aikido master. Nancy keeps it a secret. It is her secret. The secret that she doesnt reveal to anyone. She doesnt tell anyone that she is an aikido master.
What is an aikido master? What is an aikido, first?
Aikido is something like, you know, like judo. Actually, aikido is a Japanese self-defense system where you can fight with your hands and with your feet.
So Nancy the fish is a secret aikido master. She knows how to defend herself. She is an aikido master. She is a secret aikido master.
Nancy beats the shark. The shark screams and swims away.
Okay, our next word is to beat. To beat means to hit someone many times. In our case, Nancy hits the shark many times. Nancy beats the shark.
The shark screams and swims away.
And our final word for today is to scream. To scream means to make a loud high cry. Usually because you are hurt, frightened or excited. So Nancy beats the shark. The shark makes a loud high cry, because she is hurt. Nancy hits her many times. The shark screams and swims away. And the shark swims away, because she is hurt.
All the fishes love Nancy. She becomes the queen of the coral reef. She becomes the sea queen of the coral reef. And of course, Nancy is very happy.
And this is the end of the vocabulary lesson for A Secret. Now you know what to do.You listen to the vocabulary lesson one or two times a day. It will help you to understand the story better. It will help you to see the words and use the words correctly. And it will certainly help you speak English better.
The next lesson is your bonus lesson. Go and get it!
Your Bonus Lesson
Hello my superstar English student! This is Alex and this is your bonus lesson. In this lesson I am going to tell you the exact same story, but in the past tense. We are going back. Imagine! See in your head it was 10 years ago. Dont think about the rules. Just listen and enjoy the story!
Ten years ago there was a fish. Her name was Nancy. Nancy the fish had a secret. All the fishes wanted to know the secret. But Nancy didnt reveal the secret to them.
One day all the fishes decided not to talk to Nancy any more.
The fishes refused to talk to her. The fishes pretended not to see her.
Nancy said, I dont care. I can do well without you and she swam away.
Three weeks later Nancy was swimming towards a big, beautiful and fantastic coral reef. She had never been there before. As Nancy swam up to the big, beautiful and fantastic coral reef, she saw a lot of fishes of different kinds. They were nice, cheerful and friendly to her. Nancy was thrilled.
Suddenly a huge, ugly and hungry shark appeared. The shark started eating all the fishes. Nancy was trying to escape from the shark, but the shark followed her. Nancy was trying to hide in the seaweeds, but the shark found her and attacked her.
But because Nancy was a secret aikido master, she beat the shark. The shark screamed and swam away.
All the fishes loved Nancy. She became the queen of the coral reef. She became the sea queen of the coral reef.
Listen to the story many times. Listen and remember that it was ten years ago. It was in the past. Dont think about these grammar rules. Just listen and enjoy. The next lesson is the mini-story lesson. See you there.
The Mini-Story Lesson
Hello, my superstar student. This is Alex your English teacher. Welcome to our mini-story lesson for A Secret. Lets get started immediately.
There was a fish. Her name was Nancy.
What was her name?
Nancy. Her name was Nancy.
What was Nancy? A crocodile?
What was her name?
Nancy. Her name was Nancy.
What was Nancy? A crocodile?
A fish. Nancy was a fish. And she had a secret.
Who had a secret?
Nancy. Nancy the fish had a secret.
Did Nancy the fish have a car?
No, she didnt have a car. Nancy the fish had a secret.
What did Nancy have?
A secret. Nancy the fish had a secret.
A piece of information she keeps from everyone.
Remember? All the fishes wanted to know the secret.
They often said, Nancy, what is your secret?
Nancy, tell us your secret, please.
Nancy, you are a nice girl. Share your secret with us.
We love you so much. We are one, big, friendly family.
Please, tell us your secret.
What did all the fishes want to know?
Of course, the secret.
All the fishes wanted to know the secret.
Whose secret did all the fishes want to know?
Nancys secret.
All the fishes wanted to know Nancys secret.
Did Nancy reveal the secret to them?
No, she didnt. Nancy didnt reveal the secret to them.
What didnt Nancy reveal to them?
The secret. Nancy the fish didnt reveal the secret to them.
Thats why one day all the fishes decided not to talk to
Nancy any more.
One day what did all the fishes decide to do?
They decided not to talk to Nancy any more.
Who did all the fishes decide not to talk to?
To Nancy the fish. All the fishes decided not to talk to
Nancy any more.
Did Nancy want to talk to all the fishes?
Yes, she did. Nancy wanted to talk to them,
but they refused.
Did the fishes want to talk to Nancy?
No, they didnt. They refused to talk to her.
Who refused to talk to Nancy?
All the fishes. All the fishes refused to talk to Nancy.
Who did all the fishes refuse to talk to?
To Nancy. Right! They refused to talk to Nancy.
Why did the fishes refuse to talk to her?
Because she didnt reveal her secret to them.
The fishes refused to talk to Nancy, because she didnt
reveal the secret to them. She didnt tell the secret to
them. She didnt show the secret to them.
Did the fishes pretend not to see her?
Yes, they did. They pretended not to see her.
Though it was not true, of course.
Why did they pretend not to see her?
Because Nancy didnt reveal the secret to them.
She didnt tell them the secret.
She didnt show them the secret. The fishes pretended not
to see her because she didnt reveal the secret to them.
Did Nancy get upset about that? Did she cry?
No, not Nancy. Nancy didnt get upset. Nancy didnt cry.
Nancy said, I dont care. I can do well without you,
you and you. Bye-bye and she swam away.
What did Nancy say?
Nancy said I dont care.
I can do well without you. Bye-bye.
Could Nancy do well without other fishes?
Yes, she could. She said, I dont care. I can do well
without you. And she swam away.
Who swam away?
Nancy the fish did. Nancy the fish swam away.
Why? Why did Nancy swim away?
Well, first: She swam away because all the fishes
decided not to talk to her any more. Second:
She swam away because she could live without
other fishes. I see. Three weeks later Nancy was
swimming towards a big coral reef.
Was Nancy swimming towards a big, beautiful and
fantastic coral reef or a small, ugly and terrible
coral reef?
A big, of course, a beautiful and fantastic coral reef.
Nancy was swimming towards a big, beautiful and
fantastic coral reef.
What kind of reef was Nancy swimming towards?
Remember?I bet you do.
Right! She was swimming towards a big, beautiful and
fantastic coral reef.
Had Nancy ever been there before?
No, she had never been there before.
Who had never been on the reef before?
Nancy. Nancy had never ever been on that big,
beautiful and fantastic coral reef before.
Actually, it was her first time there.
As Nancy swam up to the big, beautiful and fantastic coral
reef, she saw something.
What did she see?
She saw a lot of fishes of different kinds.
As Nancy swam up to the reef, she saw a lot of fishes of
different kinds.
Did Nancy see many fishes of different sorts?
Yes, she did. Nancy saw many fishes of different sorts.
She saw a lot of fishes of different kinds.
Were the fishes the same or were the fishes different?
They were different. All the fishes were different.
All the fishes were fishes of different kinds.
Were the fishes ugly, mean and unfriendly?
No, they werent. They were nice, cheerful and friendly.
What kind of fishes were they?
They were nice, cheerful and friendly.
Who were they nice, cheerful and friendly to?
To Nancy. They were nice, cheerful and friendly to Nancy.
How did Nancy feel? Remember?
Of course, Nancy felt thrilled. Nancy was thrilled.
Did Nancy feel happy and excited?
Yes, absolutely. Nancy felt happy and excited.
She was happy and excited. Nancy was thrilled.
Suddenly a huge, ugly and hungry shark appeared.
O, my God.
Who suddenly appeared?
A huge, ugly and hungry shark appeared.
Suddenly a huge, ugly and hungry shark appeared.
What kind of shark was she?
She was a huge, ugly and hungry shark.
The shark started eating all the fishes.
What did the shark start doing?
She started eating all the fishes.
Why? Why did the shark start eating all the fishes?
Because she was a huge and, of course, because she
was very hungry.
Was the shark small, kind and nice, right?
No, no she wasnt. The shark was huge.
The shark was ugly. The shark was hungry.
She started eating all the fishes. And Nancy was trying to
escape, but the shark followed her.
Who was Nancy trying to escape from?
From her mother?
No, not from her mother, of course.
She was trying to escape from the shark.
When was Nancy trying to escape from the shark?
When the shark started eating all the fishes.
Nancy was trying to escape from the shark,
when the shark started eating all the fishes.
Did the shark follow Nancy or she didnt?
Yes, she did. The shark followed Nancy.
Why did the shark follow Nancy?
Its obvious. The shark followed Nancy, because she
wanted to eat her. She was hungry. Nancy was trying to
hide in the seaweeds, but the shark found her and
attacked her.